Bo Hanson is a stats man and the Belfast Giants star laughs when it’s put to him that plus/minus is an important statistic for defencemen.
The metric, which registers who is on the ice when a goal is either scored or conceded, is one of the most polarising in the game due to its fickle nature. For example, a player who was on the ice for a minute before a goal was scored won’t get credited with a plus, whereas someone who was perhaps in action just a second prior to the puck hitting the net will, despite having contributed absolutely nothing to the play.
That example is Hanson.
“It was in Fife,” he recalls. “I had been on the ice for a really long shift, got to the bench and literally a second after I stepped off the ice, we scored!”
It is faux frustration, Hanson not actually concerned with whether his plus/minus is as good as others, rather just that the team are putting wins on the board and he is contributing to that effort.
But it does frame a wider discussion around his interest in stats, namely around how his role has changed since he made the move to Belfast over the summer.
While in previous years the Idaho native has been relied upon as a two-way blue-liner capable of putting up points at one end just as much as he is able to keep the puck out at the other, this year he has had to adjust to being seen as solely a defensive player.
It hasn’t stopped Hanson putting up six assists in the Giants’ first 10 games, displaying all of those offensive talents in helping spearhead the team’s remarkable start to the campaign in front of goal, but those kinds of numbers are secondary to the ones coming at the other end of the ice.
“In previous years, I’ve been used more offensively but this year my role has been to be solid defensively. I can contribute offensively but that’s not my main goal,” explains the 26-year-old.
“It’s nice to see those points come up but I want to see those wins come up. I want to make it tough for other teams to score on us, giving up the least shots and goals against to help our netminders as much as possible.
“I’m comfortable playing with anybody out there. In Manchester, when Basty (Gabe Bast) got kicked out, we were playing with five D just rotating every time. That speaks to how good our D core is. We’re all capable skaters who are willing and ready to play with each other.
“Roachy’s (Josh Roach) been awesome to play with. He’s been here before so he knows the systems like the back of his hand and it’s really helpful to play with a guy like him.”
The Giants are still trying to navigate the aftermath of a topsy-turvy weekend against the Glasgow Clan that saw them fall to defeat in Scotland but then win a remarkable match on Sunday at the SSE Arena.
Although they triumphed, there were still plenty of work-ons for Adam Keefe’s side, particularly given they conceded shorthanded twice inside the final 43 seconds to blow a 3-1 lead in Sunday’s clash, eventually winning in a shootout.
“You can’t win every single game, and there are things we’ve worked on this week that we wanted to improve on from last weekend against Glasgow,” adds Hanson.
“Honestly, the Sunday night game we learned a lot too, that we can’t take any time off because we almost lost that game. That’s the beauty of hockey, you don’t know what’s going to happen, and I’m just glad we won.”
The challenge now is to take those learnings and translate them into two wins on their return to Elite League action when they welcome the Coventry Blaze on Saturday night (7pm) and then on the road at the Nottingham Panthers on Sunday (4pm).
“Keefer has done a great job of reminding us how important every game is where it can be a determining factor down the road,” reveals Hanson.
“Every game is like a Play-Off game and we want to win every single one of them, or at the very least to give ourselves the best chance of doing so.
“It’ll be fun to see two new teams. Coventry has been hot lately, they took down Sheffield last weekend, and Nottingham has been good in its own building.
“We’re excited to get back into League play again.”